RFID in an Automated Guide Vehicle

Turck is supplying Movexx with most of the equipment required for an automated guided vehicle, including the programming of the Codesys controller on the HMI VT250

In the suspension systems production area at the Dutch company VDL Weweler, an automated guided vehicle (AGV) supplied by Movexx transports components for suspension systems from the basic production area to the paint line. Turck’s HMI VT250 with a Codesys controller is controlling how the vehicle finds its destination, supported via photoelectric sensors, an RFID system, angle sensors, and status indication systems from the Turck portfolio. Turck B.V. demonstrated its genuine solution expertise by not only supplying components but also programming the controller. Since the AGVs have taken up their duties in production, the error rate for the transport of components has rapidly dropped.

The AGV receives the order wirelessly to move the frame with metal carriers to the painting line

RFID tags that provide the AGV with position information are embedded in the floor e.g. at crossings

»The transport solution for us had to be as flexible as possible.«Bert Eilander, VDL Weweler

Turck’s VT250 communicates wirelessly with the IMS and controls virtually all systems of the vehicle

Turck’s contactless angle sensor meas-ures the angle of steer at the motor of the steering system

Three fibers with connected amplifiers are installed for the bidirectional control of each direction

The truck and automotive supplier VDL Weweler in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, wanted to automate a transport operation requiring physical effort, but which has to be completed at the demand of the production system.

The responsible production planners saw the need for optimization in the transport of support elements and suspensions for truck trailers. Up to the middle of 2015, these components were still being transported between the basic production area and the paint line with lift trucks.

Manual transport unprecise

The disadvantage of this solution was the fact that it required a lot of physical effort from the employees. Furthermore, colleagues could not always work as precisely as an automated vehicle, so the production was endangered. In 2014, the decision makers at VDL Weweler therefore decided to automate the transport of the frames.

Movexx develops new AGV

The decision makers at VDL Weweler turned to the transport specialists at Movexx International B.V. to develop an automated transport solution. Movexx is a Dutch manufacturer of industrial trucks including many customer-specific products. The manufacturer had already developed and built so-called AGVs (automated guided vehicles). However, a new solution had to be developed for this task.

The AGV must move in both directions because it is only possible to reverse out of the target stations. The hydraulic lifting platform raises the frame two centimeters from the floor in order to transport it.

Comprehensive automation solution from Turck B.V.

To develop the transport vehicle, Andreas Versteeg got Turck on board already in the planning phase. Movexx had previously used the Turck sensors and LED lights in its products. However, this project also required solution expertise as well as capable components.

The greatest challenge was the bidirectional control of the AGV on the factory floor. Turck suggested a combined RFID contrast strip control.

RFID system for destination control

Optimum line tracking is combined with RFID tags which are stuck to the factory floor at key points along the lines. The tags at the turnout points indicate to the AGV, whether it is to continue driving or stop. The AGV does not itself make decisions. The intelligence is in the networking of the AGV with the higher-level IMS (integrated manufacturing system), which instructs the AGV to move to a specified point.

Turck’s VT250 HMI-PLC operates on the AGV. It communicates with the IMS via a wireless TCP/IP connection and responds as a Profibus master with a BL20 gateway containing the inputs and outputs to which all signals of the vehicle are connected.